When we woke up, we were back on the interstate. After fixing ourselves, we climbed down and sat down on the bottom bunk.

"Don't you truckers ever sleep?" I joked.

"I did," Harri said, a bit more sharply than necessary. "After I delivered that load last night I took a nap until about five-thirty."

"Oh," I said awkwardly, not knowing how else to respond.

"I grabbed breakfast from IHOP before hitting the road. I bought you two some pancakes. They're in the fridge."

"Oh, how kind of you," I said as we reached for the fridge and pulled out the bag that said IHOP. "How much do we owe you?"

"Fifteen bucks," Harri said without hesitation. I stood up and grabbed our bag from the top bunk and pulled out fifteen bucks, as requested, and handed it up to her. She took it without thanks and stuffed it in her shirt pocket. I decided to let it go since she wasn't necessarily asked to get us breakfast. Although, she might've done it so we wouldn't complain about being hungry.

The pancakes were cold, but that was fine. They weren't half bad for non-seafood, honestly. They were sweet. After finishing our breakfast, we went back to riding in silence. Which again was fine with us. We just wished she'd stop lighting up every half hour.

Around noon, we arrived in Canton, Ohio. After we unloaded, Harri got back in the truck and turned to us.

"Well," she started, "looks like there's been a change of plans. My boss is sending me back west instead of Philadelphia. So unless you wanna be even further off course, you should probably hop off. I'll drive you to the nearest truck stop. If you ask around, I'm sure someone will be heading toward New York that'll be willing to give you a ride."

I exchanged a glance with Glenne and nodded. "All right. We appreciate you, Harri."

"Don't mention it," she said bitterly.

She drove us to a stop called Pilot and pulled up the fueling station, stepping out with us. We grabbed our bag and followed.

"Well," she said as she started up the pump, "I guess this is goodbye. I'll let Rod know you're almost there."

"We thank you for the ride, Harri," I said.

She nodded at us and we started to turn away, but Glenne stopped and turned back.

"Harri," she called. Harri turned to her. "I just wanted to ask. You didn't seem too happy about giving us a ride, so why did you?"

Harri glanced up at the sign with the gas price before looking back. "Well, as much as I hate hitchhikers, I hate people who aren't willing to help others even more," she said, cracking a smile. I realized that was the first time she had since we'd met her.

Glenne smiled back. "Stay safe, Harri," she said.

Harri nodded. "Y'all too."

Finally, we turned and headed toward the station. "Let's see if we can score some Cheezy Dibbles, then we'll start asking around," I said. Glenne nodded and we entered.

It was a quaint place. There couldn't be more than about six or seven people in the store, including us. We decided to try and stay low profile. Glenne stayed close to me and wrapped her arm around mine.

"I'm a bit nervous, Dave," Glenne whispered in my ear.

"Everything will be all right," I assured her. "Just follow my lead."

We grabbed six bags of Cheezy Dibbles and headed to the checkout counter. There was only one line and two people were ahead of us. After a few moments of waiting, Glenne tapped my arm.

I turned to her. "Hmm?"

"What are those?" she asked, pointing to a small display on the counter where various rings hung from hooks, each ring with a different metal object hanging off of it. Some said "Canton" on it. Others were circular with a big O in the middle, "Ohio State" or "Ohio State Buckeyes" written across it. Others had silly sayings like "Be Kind" or "You can't scare me I have kids."

"I believe they're called keychains," I told her in a whisper. "I believe humans have an obsession with them. I think they might be used to make their keys look silly or something. I never really understood the point of them."

I faced forward and the man in front of us was giving us an odd look. I swallowed as I feared he might've heard us and would say something, but he just shook his head and proceeded to check out.

"What can I do for you?" the young man behind the counter said with an indifferent expression, pressing his lips together and leaning unprofessionally against the counter.

"Newports shorts," the man said.

"Menthol?" the man said. After an affirmative nod from the customer, he rang the cigarettes up and was paid. We laid our bags on the counter next.

The young man, whose nametag read "Lucas" now that I got a good look at it, eyed our bags and sighed heavily as he grabbed one and started ringing them up.

"That be all?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you," I answered.

"That'll be twelve dollars even," he said.

I fished twelve dollars out of our bag and handed it over. I gave Glenne our clothes/money bag and I grabbed the bags of Dibbles. We turned toward the door.

"See?" I said. "Piece of cake."

Just as the words escaped my mouth, the doors to the gas station burst open and a man and a woman, both wearing masks, each aimed a gun on everyone.

"Everybody put your hands in the air!" he screamed.

Everyone hesitated, but after he fired a shot into the ceiling causing parts of it to fall to the floor, they complied, including Glenne and I.

"All right," the woman started, "now everyone cluster up right here at the front along these first few aisles and get on your knees. Keep your hands where I can see 'em!" she demanded. The man kept his gun trained on everyone while the woman put a broom across the door handles so no one could enter.

Glenne and I were both frozen in fear, clutching our bags. The man screamed at us to move, which jolted us into action and we complied, kneeling down on the ground with everyone else a few feet away from the cashier.

"Put the money in the bag!" the man screamed at the cashier while the woman kept her gun trained on us. The cashier scrambled to open the register and throw all the money into the large, black duffel bag.

I exchanged a look with Glenne. Her eyes were wide with fear, and I knew I couldn't have looked any more relaxed. My hearts felt like they were taking a battering ram to my insides and I could barely move. Everything was fine five minutes ago and now we were being held at gunpoint. I looked back to the cashier, hoping he had a weapon or something, but he just finished emptying the register and cowered back. I didn't even understand it. It couldn't have been much. I'd be surprised if it was more than a hundred bucks.

The man then turned to the first customer. "Everyone empty your pockets," he demanded, throwing the duffle bag to the floor.

Oh.

The young man threw down a wallet, keys, a pack of cigarettes, and a cell phone. The robber then bent over and emptied the money out of the wallet and tossed it back to the man on the ground.

"Hey," a voice called above me. The woman was standing in front of us and had the gun trained on my face. "He said empty your pockets!"

I swallowed hard as I looked past the gun to the woman's masked face, her eyes barely showing through it. Glenne started to hand her our bag but I reached over and pushed it back into her arms. I caught a glimpse of her staring wide-eyed at me with her mouth agape as I did so.

"Everything we own is in this bag. Please," I pleaded. I wasn't as surprised at how trembly my voice was than I'd felt when I'd had to brace myself for a fight before with the dogs. Except this wasn't some private alleyway nor two strays wanting me to satisfy their cravings. I couldn't do anything. I had a small chance at beating those dogs if I'd had to, but fighting off a madwoman with a gun was a different story.

The woman reached down and snatched the bag away from us and opened it up, looking inside. After rummaging through the two sets of clothes that were in there, she found the small ziplock baggie with our money.

"What, you two homeless or something?" the woman inquired.

I decided to roll with it. "Yeah, something like that," I replied, finding it hard to maintain eye contact. "We're trying to get to New York — to start over, try to make a living for ourselves. We have family there."

The woman scoffed. "Well, I think you'll make it to the Big Apple just fine without this measly bundle of bills," she said as she tossed it into the duffle bag. I reached out my arm and stared at it as my hearts ceased their pickaxing at my internal organs, dropping into my stomach instead. She tossed the rest of the bag back to me but it just bounced off my chest and onto the floor, my arm still outstretched to her duffle bag. In the next few minutes they'd collected all the money they could and they doubled back to the doors, keeping the guns trained on us. Just as they pulled the broom from the doors you could hear sirens in the near distance.

"Shit! It's the fuzz!" the woman said. "Let's go!"

They rushed out and jumped into a car, which immediately sped off as if someone were already in the driver seat. I couldn't move. All my limbs were jelly. I wanted to chase after them, but I knew my efforts would be fruitless. I snapped out of it as I saw Glenne out of the corner of my eye get up and rush out of the station. I regained the feeling in my limbs, grabbed our bag, and followed her, later realizing I'd left the Dibbles but not caring.

She had rushed to the side of the building and was making a break for the small patch of woods that was several yards away. When I caught up with her, she was hiding amongst the bushes, ripping off all her clothes and crying.

"Glenne!" I called, making sure no one had followed us. I assumed we were safe and proceeded to pull off my clothing as well. I carefully approached Glenne as she leaned against a tree and wept. "Glenne," I said softer, taking one of her arms in mine, but she retracted it.

"Go away," she whined.

I felt my hearts sink. She was . . . really weeping. I couldn't tell if it was from the fear of having her life just threatened, from the disappointment of the newfound roadblock to getting to New York, both, something else, or what.

"Hey," I said awkwardly. "It'll be okay." I tried to make eye contact, but she buried her face into the tree. "We'll get another job here and earn our way to New York again. Okay?"

"You don't get it," Glenne snapped, turning toward me but not making eye contact. "You never have."

I was taken aback by the response and had to agree. I had no idea what she was referring to. "What do you mean? What don't I get?"

"We were almost killed, Dave!" Glenne screamed, sharply turning to me. "If a crazy woman points a gun at you and tells you to hand over your money, you do it, Dave! But you risked our lives trying to save it! My life!"

My brow furrowed and I pulled back a little. "I tried, yes, but I fully intended to hand it over if it didn't work the first time," I explained.

Glenne laughed, tears still streaming down her cheeks. She looked at the bushes, shaking her head. "I'm an idiot," she said softly.

I tensed. "Why would you say that?"

She finally locked eyes with me. "I'm an idiot," she started sharply, "because I let myself believe that you would change."

I blinked and shook my head. "Change?" I repeated. "I didn't know I needed to change anything."

Glenne let out a sound that sounded like a laugh-cough-sob hybrid. "Of course you didn't." She wiped away her tears. "You think I'm an idiot too, you know."

I shook my head and started stuttering. "I — what are you — I don't — you just — what? Why would you say that? I would never think that way about you."

"Really?" Glenne said, nodding slowly. "Then why did you want to bring me with you?"

I maintained eye contact, my mouth hanging open but nothing coming out.

"I'll tell you why," she started, moving closer to me. "You were tired of traveling alone. You wanted me to come along for the company. You don't care about me and never did. All you care about is those penguins."

"Glenne, that's not true," I argued. "I did it for us. So that we could be together — so neither of us would have to be alone. You and me, me and you, both of us together. Where is this coming from? What could ever make you think I don't care about you?"

"Don't give me that 'free from solitude' crap. Tell me, Dave, if you had to choose between us, who would lose?" she asked . . . again.

Anger rose into my throat and I flailed my arms. "I told you I don't know! I don't know! I want both!"

"But if you had to choose!" she screamed back.

"Both! I choose both!"

"That's not what I asked!" She was so close to my face now that I could feel her hot breath.

"I — I told you — this isn't —"

"Who, Dave!"

"Them!" I screamed.

The fire in her eyes was immediately extinguished by the tears that started welling in them again. We both were out of breath at that point, maintaining eye contact but unspeaking. I felt my adrenaline drain as I realized what I'd said — what I'd said to her. The hurt in her eyes — if anyone else had hurt her that way I'd have crushed the life out of them. But it was me that put that hurt there . . . and all I could think of was how much time we were wasting that could've been put toward coming up with a new plan to get to New York. At that moment, I felt like the monster everyone thought of me.

"I knew it," Glenne said softly, choking again. "God, I'm so bloody stupid."

"Well —" I started, trying to find the words. I choked back my own tears. "You don't understand! You don't understand how much those penguins mean to me! Watching them grow, taking care of them as chicks! You don't understand how much love I hold in my hearts for these little balls of feathers! You don't understand how much I would die inside if I lost them forever!"

"I do understand!"

"How could you possibly —"

"Because, you bloody idiot!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Then she lowered her voice as she backed away. "You were that person for me."

Again, my adrenaline stopped dead in its tracks. I looked down, studying the ground. "I don't understand —"

I looked back at her as she laughed. "He still doesn't understand," she said to the trees. She looked at me again and, with pain in her eyes, said, "Back in London, before we even broke out of the zoo . . . I liked you. A lot. Before I knew it, I . . ." She choked and started weeping through her words. "I thought I was in love with you," she let out in nothing more than a whimper. Then she coughed and looked at the ground. "At least I thought I was."

I let her words sink in and again, I was completely immobile. Glenne may or may not have been in love with me at that point, but I definitely hated myself. I was the literal scum of the Earth. I had no idea how to see what was right in front of me. All the signs. The way she looked when I talked about the penguins. The way she watched Lorrie and Georgie, or even when Rod made that call to his own family. She wanted that. Someone to love her like no one ever had. Unconditionally and exclusively. No, she didn't just want it, she wanted it with me. The most unexpected person on Earth — the one that had reeled her in with promises and only ended up breaking her heart. That's who she chose — and that person was me.

She didn't deserve me. She didn't deserve this. And everything she felt that moment was my fault alone and completely justified.

I wanted to apologize, to say something to take away the hurt — to take back everything I said for her to doubt herself and me. In fact, I wanted to tell her that I . . . think I felt the same way about her. But I was too afraid to even think about that — I had already hurt her so much.

"I figured as much," she said, breaking the silence. "I tell you I love you and you have nothing. And now because of you, I have no way of getting home."

The words hit me like a sack of lobsters. "You . . . want to go home?" I asked timidly.

She broke eye contact. "Yes," she answered softly. "There's no future for me here anymore."

The words were daggers that stabbed my hearts. I had the strength to tell her everything — to stop her from wanting to leave me.

"Glenne, I —"

A pair of high-pitched screams caught our attention and we turned to see two women standing not too far from us, staring at the clothing sprawled about the ground and the two octopuses.

"They ate them!" one screamed.

"The octopuses have developed a taste for human flesh!" the other screamed.

"Police! Police!" they both screamed as they took off back toward the gas station.

I turned back to Glenne but she was gone and I panicked. "Glenne!" I called. "Glenne!" I looked around, up at the trees, around the bushes, everywhere. I had no idea if she was even still in the brush anymore. My breathing became shallow as I turned around and around, trying to figure out where she'd gone. Then I heard the police coming and dashed up a tree, camouflaging myself. My hearts were racing, but I had to find Glenne.

"Where'd they go?" one officer asked one of the girls.

"I don't know!" she screamed. "They were right here!"

"Get some dogs over here!" another officer said into a radio.

I knew then that I had to get out of there. A dog would have my scent from my clothes, making camouflage virtually useless. But I was too scared to leave for Glenne's sake. Before I could decide to stay and look for her, I saw three dogs, escorted by police, coming towards the woods from the station.

Feeling my hearts wrench, I took off as quietly and discreetly as I could, praying Glenne was somewhere safe.

— § —

Note: The quotes used in this chapter were: "You and me, me and you, both of us together," spoken by Mike Wazowski (portrayed by Billy Crystal) in Monster's Inc. (2001).

Next chapter will be posted on September 14, 2023.